Trending Topics

friends

I want to remind you about rather a unique program I offer here at the blog (one that hundreds of you have already taken advantage of and seem to be enjoying). It is called Friends of the Blog.

This is a program I established in order to give people an opportunity to support this blog and, at the same time, to find a creative way of thanking them for doing so. The idea was to ask people to help support the site while returning far more value to them. And by and large I think the program has done very well in that way. Some benefits have come and gone while others have arisen. But through it all, I think the value has remained oustanding.

Let me tell you what’s in it for you if you become a Friend of the Blog.

There are deals and gift certificates for when you shop:

$10 gift certificate for Westminster Books

$15 gift certificate for The Good Book Company

Discounts on all purchases at Vision Video and on a subscription to Modern Reformation magazine

You’ll also get free books:

4 new a-list books or DVDs of your choice from Zondervan (you can choose 2 today, 1 in a couple of weeks, and 1 in a couple of months)

Are you a Friend of the Blog? It has been a few months now since I rolled out the program and to this point I’m very happy with the results; I’ve been blessed by the many of you who have chosen to support my web site in this way. And I hear from more and more of you that you’re pleased with the results of your membership.

To those who are not aware of how the program works, let me give you a quick overview. When you become a Friend of the Blog, you receive a list of great benefits. Among these are:

A $10 gift certificate from Westminster Books

You choose 4 new books or DVDs from Zondervan (including Tim Keller’s new DVDGospel in Life)

A subscription to Christianity Today

1 book from Reformation Heritage Books

Album downloads from bands and artists you like (there are eight there now and more to come)

Deals and savings from other stores

You support this web site

More to come…

This comes to at least $160 in value and there are more things to come that will make it better value still. This is a year-long effort and more will be added over the course of the year. When you sign up, you get everything there plus whatever else comes in over the year. And through it all you’ll be supporting challies.com.

If you’re really a book addict, you may want to become an Affiliate and refer friends, earning $5 in Westminster Books credit with each person you refer. Already lots of people have earned some good credit from Westminster.

The cost to become a friend is just $39 for the year. Do the math and I think you’ll find that it’s more than fair value.

Last week, amidst all the busyness of a three-day trip to Louisville and announcing a new podcast and a new publishing company, I also announced a new program called Friends of the Blog. Since so many readers of this site were enjoying Together for the Gospel at the time, far from their computers and RSS readers, I wanted to give the program another mention. I’m grateful for the many of you who have already participated and want to make sure all the rest of you are aware of it.

Here are some of the highlights of what you gain as a Friend of the Blog:

A $10 gift certificate from Westminster Books

You choose 4 new books or DVDs from Zondervan (including Tim Keller’s new DVDGospel in Life)

A one-year subscription to Ligonier Ministries’ Tabletalk magazine

Album downloads from bands and artists you like (four to start, more coming soon)

Deals and savings from other stores

This comes to at least $160 in value and there are more things to come that will make it better value still. This is a year-long effort and more will be added over the course of the year. When you sign up, you get everything there plus whatever else comes in over the year. And through it all you’ll be supporting challies.com.

There are also things to win including, right off the top, a Kindle. Everyone who signs up as a Friend by the end of April will be entered into a drawing for that Kindle. If you’re really a book addict, you may want to become an Affiliate and refer friends, earning $5 in Westminster Books credit with each person you refer. Already lots of people have earned some good credit from Westminster.

This is the first of three big announcements I’ll be sharing with you this week. Today’s keyword is Friends, tomorrow’s keyword is Cruciform and Wednesday’s keyword will be Connected. Stay tuned as you won’t want to miss any of them.

By the end of this post I will have told you something, I will have offered you something and I will have asked you for something. That’s just so you know what to look for. So here goes.

This blog has become a major part of my life. For the past seven years (or very nearly so) it has been a daily part of my life even. I’ve grown awfully attached to it over the years and really can’t imagine life without it. It has given me near-endless opportunities to serve, to be served, to grow in grace and to meet so many brothers and sisters in Christ. Any success it has seen has been entirely unexpected and stands as clear evidence of God’s grace to me. I am very grateful to you, the readers, for making it part of your lives as well. It’s truly humbling. I probably do not say that to you often enough.

So that’s what I wanted to tell you.

Now let me talk about an exciting new program I’ve put together.

Recently the expenses associated with the blog have begun to rise. The hosting costs are sixteen times greater than when I started out and I’ve also had to invest thousands of dollars in infrastructure, such as moving to the new software package that drives the blog today. This is really just the cost of having a blog that is independent and heavily-visited (compare it to a business that, when it grows, needs to move to bigger and more elaborate offices). It’s nothing I resent or regret, of course—it’s just reality. For some time now I have been running ads to offset those expenses and to free up a bit more of my time for the writing and maintenance of the site; they’ve generally done a good job of it. But always I’ve been wanting to think creatively and outside of that proverbial box, hoping I could eventually trim back ads in favor of something else. I’ve wanted to find a way of bringing value to you, the reader, and to the people you buy books from, the people whose music you listen to, the people whose magazines you read. I think I’ve found a unique way of doing that.

Friendship has its privileges in this case. Here are some of the immediate highlights for anyone who becomes a Friend of the Blog:

A $10 gift certificate from Westminster Books

A $20 gift certificate from ChristianAudio (for the first 250 Friends only so don’t dawdle! They will go fast.)

You choose 4 new books or DVDs from Zondervan (including Tim Keller’s new DVDGospel in Life)

A one-year subscription to Ligonier Ministries’ Tabletalk magazine

Album downloads from bands and artists you like (four to start, more to come)

Deals and savings from other stores

There are also things to win including, right off the top, a Kindle. Everyone who signs up as a Friend by the end of April will be entered into a drawing for that Kindle. If you’re really a book addict, you may want to become an Affiliate and refer friends, earning $5 in Westminster Books credit with each person you refer.

So that’s what I’m offering you. I think you’ll see right away that there is a lot of value there—$160 at least. And we’re just getting started. This is a year-long effort and more will be added over the course of the year. When you sign up, you get everything there plus whatever else comes in over the year.

And what I’m asking for is $39. All of this (and more!) is yours for that price—the cost of a one-year membership. I’ve worked hard to make this the best deal it could possibly be. And I will continue to do so.

About Tim Challies

I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario, and am a co-founder of Cruciform Press.